Tuesday, December 30, 2014

Teachers, this post offers you a few more days of relaxing, shopping,
reading for pleasure, watching college bowl games, or indulging in whatever revives you
best before you must unlock your classrooms after
your much-deserved break. This lesson, New Year's Day Writing Activity: Dynamite Resolutions for the New Year, will engage your middle and /or
high school students as the first bell chimes while giving you an activity that meets comprehension, writing, thinking and speaking objectives.

As the New Year tick tocks its way into January, students’ brains need
some prodding to shake off the cobwebs of long winter naps. This language arts
activity sparks their comprehension, critical thinking and writing muscles as
they consider the texts that they read and analyzed during the fall and early
winter months. After they complete the handout and share their responses in a
whole-class discussion that promises to be lively, their brains will be revved up for the next fiction or
narrative nonfiction unit.

For this lesson, New Year's Day
Writing Activity: Dynamite Resolutions for the New Year, students will choose
five people from any of the reading they have completed so far this school year,
and will create a New Year’s Resolution for each one. Each decision must be one
that fits the character’s disposition, morals, values and temperament.

After the students create this pledge, they must explain

why the character made this decision,

why this is a logical choice for him/her, and they

must also include the title and author for each story that they
use.

To score this activity, allot 1 point each for the character, the title
and the author; 3 points for each Resolution, and 4 points for the Reason -10
points per each character response, and 50 points for the whole worksheet.

Example:

Character: Goldilocks; Goldilocks
and The Three Bears; Robert Southly

Resolution: I vow never to break into anyone’s house again.

Reason: My parents grounded me for breaking and entering, eating the
Bear family’s food, destroying their furniture and messing up their beds. For
three weeks I had to eat cold porridge, sit in a wooden chair and sleep on a
wooden pallet with no mattress. That was no fun.